


honey you've got a big storm coming

by nadia5803



Series: liaisons by nadia [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Unrequited Love, repost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:13:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23990617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nadia5803/pseuds/nadia5803
Summary: uhhhhh *jo march voice* i've tried it and i can't
Series: liaisons by nadia [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1631752
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	honey you've got a big storm coming

“You’ve been ignoring me.”

Pietro looked over his shoulder, quickly outing his cigarette on the bench as Patryka approached him, hands behind her back. “I do promise you it’s nothing personal, just political,” he said, chuckling as he moved over on the bench, leaving room for her to sit. 

“Well, it’s gross out here, and you should come in,” Patryka replied, a careful smile on her face as she sat next to him. 

  
“Are you kidding? I’m used to this,” he waved a dismissive hand and looked out at the lights of the city below. 

  
Patryka looked around, rubbing her arms. It was overcast, and the gray clouds looked as if they were about to burst with rain. Fog masked most of the view, but the dim glow of Schengen was visible from behind it, a cluster of little yellow dots filling the horizon.

“Yep, that’s the lovely town of Schengen,” Pietro said. “The old term for the political unit of the European Union was named after this town. Probably why Ben Hunter set everything up here. Before everybody hated each other,” Pietro joked, but Patryka couldn’t help but feel as if he wasn’t joking. 

“Erm… how’s Olesya?” she asked, attempting to change the subject.

“Oh, glad you remembered. She’s good. Well,” Pietro looked around, then back at Patryka, outstretching an arm across the bench. “Actually…” he leaned forward, scratching behind his ear as he leaned forward “She’s pregnant, but I haven’t told anyone yet. You can’t tell!”

  
“Oh my god! Really? Nobody? Not even Oksana?” Patryka sat up, all grins and smiles.   
  


“Not even Oksana!” Pietro laughed and propped his head up with his hand. “But, seriously, please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want it to detract from the important things.”

“That’s fantastic news, though. I’m so happy for you. Do you know the gender yet?” Patryka smiled, placing her hands on her knees as she glanced back over at a flustered Pietro. 

“Not yet. And I think Olesya wants to keep it a secret from me, anyways,” Pietro snorted and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m begging you not to say anything.”

“Of course I won’t. You can trust me on this one,” Patryka said, scratching the side of her neck and pushing her hair out of her face. “I won’t tell anyone. It’s not my place to, anyhow.” 

“Thank you.”

The pair sat in silence for a moment before Pietro stuck his finger out at the city. “East, that’s Schengen, and further east is Western Germany. West is France, England, Spain…” Pietro rattled off before tracing his finger over the horizon.

“And if you look a tad Northeast, that’s Poland,” he glanced at Patryka, keeping his arm around her as she chuckled. “A little bit further southeast, Ukraine. And all the little former-USSR friends of his,” He breathed through his nose, a grin on his face as Patryka looked down at her feet, giggling to herself.

  
“Finally, directly Southeast from here, Patryka, is Hungary.” 

Patryka went quiet, looking up at Pietro as he yanked his arm away and looked away from her, silent.

“Pietro-”   
  
“You need to stop, Patryka, it’s not good for you to be doing  _ this _ ,” Pietro muttered, rubbing his eyes as he leaned forward. “You can’t just  _ do _ that. Him?”

Patryka gaped, unsure of how to respond. “If I love him, then our positions shouldn’t matter. Now you’re acting just like everybody else. I thought you were my friend. Is that why you’ve been ignoring me?” She rose to her feet, hands tightened into fists. “Because I love someone?”

  
He rolled his eyes and laughed, lifting his head up. “But you don’t love him, Patryka.”

“Pietro. How can you say that?! Of course I love him!” Patryka threw out an indignant arm. “I just can’t believe you’re putting me on the spot like this. You’re acting like a dick. It’s because you’re hanging out with Oksana, isn’t it? You always talk to her more than you talk to me, now. Why?”

  
“Stop getting off track, Patryka, this isn’t about her. This is about you and the fake relationship you’ve built up with a maniac for intimidation purposes.”

“How dare you? You’re fucked! I love him! How would you feel if I told you that you didn’t  _ truly  _ love Olesya?” she demanded, her nails digging into the palm of her hands. She was irate and right red in the face, trembling with rage as she stared him down.

  
“If you’re loving someone for the sake of politics, then it’s not love. I don’t know why that’s so hard to understand,” Pietro crossed his arms, reaching in his pocket for another cigarette.

  
“Stop it. I don’t love him for the sake of politics. I love him. It shouldn’t matter if-” She rubbed her temples, taking a menacing step forward. “Just stop talking. You never stop talking. It’s all a comedy act to you!”

“You and I both know it, Patryka. You always wanted nothing to do with him. And… Fedya? You want to explain that whole mess? I know you had to have something to do with  _ it _ . Look, you’re one of my closest friends here. I trust you. But this isn’t the person I know. You’re not acting like the person I know,” he said, getting to his feet as he ignited his cigarette.

“You shouldn’t be getting involved with any of this. It's for your own good. Stop trying to insert yourself into my relationship. It’s mine and Arpad’s business only,” she retorted, taking another step forward as Pietro removed the cigarette from his mouth, flicking away the ash. He laughed softly, rolling his eyes as she fumed. 

“For my own good? I’m sorry, but I can’t just sit by when my closest friend and ally is screwing another head of state. One that could easily be considered an oligarch, for God’s sake, why are you doing this? That man’s out of his mind, and you’re feeding into his fantasy,” Pietro tossed his cigarette on the ground and got to his feet, turning away from her as he headed back towards the building.

“Pietro, wait. Wait, please,” Patryka blinked away tears as she stood there, her hands trembling. “Because I couldn’t have  _ you _ . I always wanted you!”

Pietro stopped in his tracks. She almost immediately regretted letting the words loose. Mistake. Mistake. Mistake. As he turned to look at her, he snapped his head back away, eyes wide as he stared at his feet. “Fuck. Patryka. Fucking… hell. My wife is pregnant. I told you. What the hell…?”

“I know you can’t. I know. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, please don’t hate me. Please,” Desperate, she ran over to him, placing a hand over his back as he crouched to the floor, face in his hands. 

“I don’t hate you,” Pietro dragged his hands down his face, rising back up to his feet. “I’m married and I have a child on the way. I can’t, Patryka, and I don’t. I’m sorry,” he said, grabbing her hands as tears ran down her face. “I am so sorry,” he whispered breathlessly as she wiped her face, squeezing his hand as she looked back out at the city.

It seems the clouds had begun to burst as the rain started to far, a gradual amount of drops littering the courtyard.

“I can walk you to the bathroom. I’ll fix your makeup for you,” Pietro offered, pressing his hand against Patryka’s face. Her cheeks were ice-cold as she nodded her head. He smiled at her as he led her inside, careful to avoid the prying eyes of any other attendee.

Once in the bathroom, Patryka leaned over the sink as Pietro wet a few tissues. He handed them to her and she wiped the black marks off her face, feeling guilty as he stared at the linoleum floor. 

“It was wrong of me to-”

“Don’t worry about it. I won’t say anything,” he waved a dismissive hand and smiled at her. “I really do care about you. You know that, right? You’ll always be my friend, no matter what happens.” 

  
Patryka smiled and pushed her hair out of her face. “Thank you. I’m happy to have you in my life,” she said, grabbing Pietro’s hands. He squeezed them back and chuckled.

  
“And I won’t ignore you during sessions anymore either. It’s game-set-match with you, anyhow,” Pietro rubbed his arm and grinned at her. “Better?”

She got to her feet, smoothed down her dress, and stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was still puffy from the damp air, and she allowed it to fall over her shoulders as she touched her face. Clean, untouched, porcelain, like she hadn’t been crying at all. “Mhm.”

“Alright. Do you need anything else? Second meeting of the day is… soon,” Pietro trailed off as he glanced at his watch. “10 minutes.”

“No. I’m fine. I’ll see you there, I guess,” Patryka replied, rubbing her arms and giving a friendly nod.

  
“See ya.” 

With that, Pietro left. Patryka looked at the closed door, back at her feet and at her hands, then at herself in the mirror. She ran another hand through her hair and watched helplessly as it fluffed back up. Wrapping her fingers into a fist, Patryka took one last look at herself in the mirror and sighed, exiting back into the hallway.


End file.
